Ok, so it has been a bad month what with Rapidshare shenanigans and so forth, but on the other hand, in the last few months a couple of real gems have surfaced. Firstly we had the excellent 1980 recording from Minneapolis and now a recording from the band's infamous journey to Australia has come to light. To date this is the only documented recording of their tumultuous time in that country.
It is not clear exactly where and when this was recorded, but Hugh's comments that they would be leaving the day after tomorrow would logically place this at the La Trobe Union Hall in Melbourne on the 13th March 1979, the penultimate date of the tour. This would mean that they left Australia on 15th March after a second night in Melbourne the previous night (this time at Dallas Brooks Hall).
Clearly, this recording sees The Stranglers in a particularly belligerent mood. This is not surprising as throughout their stay in Australia they had clashed with media and politicians alike. In reaction to hostility from the media, the band played up to their bad boys of punk reputation to the fullest extent, most notably on the evening magazine TV show 'Willesee At Seven' which could accurately be described at The Stranglers' Grundy moment!
The Stranglers 'enlighten' the Australian media
'Willesee At Seven', February 1979
So sit back and prepare to be insulted by The Stranglers!
MP3 (as received): http://we.tl/1ARSJLyu5r
Artwork: http://we.tl/Pi0rG5KPfx
01. Burning Up Time
02. Straighten Out
03. No More Heroes
04. Curfew
05. Threatened
06. Nice 'N' Sleazy
07. I Feel Like A Wog
08. London Lady
09. Toiler On The Sea
By the way, can anyone provide me with a lossless version of this gig.
Thanks,
Adrian.
Thanks for this one Adrian, from what I found out ages ago... I think that this info is moderately accurate. The show was broadcast on what was then called Double J, nowadays it's called Triple J (imaginative huh?) it's one of the few non commercial radio stations in Aus. I'm pretty sure that this found a bootleg release as 'Bondi Lifesavers', which actually points towards the gig being played in Sydney as Melbourne is about as far away from the ocean as you can get, well not really but it is a long way.
ReplyDeleteApart from that, the broadcasting company admitted to the existence of the recording and then provided some bullshit reason as to why they wouldn't make it available.
The references in the gig are sort of innocuous, other than the leaving comment, there are references which could be applied to Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne and they are all a long way from each other... take your pick.
There you go... useless information!
Thanks Adrian great post.
ReplyDeleteAll the best
Dave
I went to the La Trobe show that night but only remember two songs ..Get a Grip and Down in the Sewer. I do remember Burnel throwing a beer can back at the audience & about 300 immediately came back ..many half full 😂😂😂..it was a great night 🙌 R.I.P Dave Greenfield and Jet Black …No More Heroes 😞
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